Railway-gate-actuating apparatus



Mar. 6, 1923. r F. G. BECK ET AL.

I RAILWAY 'GATE ACTUATING APPARATUS- 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

HLED OCT. 9, I920.

ATTORNEYS Mar. 6, 1923.

F. G. BECK ET AL. RAILWAY GATE ACTUATING APPARATUS.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

FILED OCT- 9. 1920.

INVENTOR J? 6: I530 (/NDERS,

A TTOR/VEYS WITNESSES Patented Mar. 6, 1923.

ama ATENT, orrice.

FRANKLIN GAGE BECK AND wILLIAMnoUeLAs SAUNDERS, or sr. LOUIS, ivnssouar.

RAILWAY-GATE-ACTUATING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 9, 1920. Serial No. 415.745.

Z '0 all whom iii-may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANKLIN GAGE BECK and W ILLIA DOUGLAS SAUNDERS, citizens of the United States, and residents of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Gate-Actuating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

"Our invention relates to railway crossing gates and more particularly to an apparatus for effecting ing thereof.

The purpose of our invention is the provision of a crossing gate actuating apparatus of simple and eflicient construction which is the automatic opening and closoperable by and upon the approach of a train or car to a-railway crossing to-close the gate and to open the gate only after the train has traversed and is clear of the crossft is also a purpose of our invention to provide an apparatus of that character in which both audible and visible signals are automatically operated upon raising the gate, and means for checking the closing of the gate when'a vehicle or other obstacle is in its path when closing. Y

We will describe one form of crossing gate and one form of apparatus for actuating thesame embodying our invention and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims. l v

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is av view showingin side elevation one form of crossing gate embodying our invention.-

Figure 2 isan enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the gate and pedestal therefor showing a portion of the actuating apparatus embodying our invention.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the end of the gate shown in the preceding views. 1

Figure 4 isa vertical sectional view of the pedestal shown in Figure 2and with a portion of the adjacent supporting means for the gate shown in section.

Similar reference characters refer to sim- 17. As shown in Figure 4, the beam 16 is arranged between a pair of collars 18 and 19 keyed to the shaft 15. The collar 19 is notched to normally receive a locking dog or pawlD mounted within the beam 16 and biased to locking positionby means of a spring 14:, as clearly shown in Figure 2. The dogD is connected toone end of an operating cable C which is supported below the beam 16 by means of brackets H. The opposite end of the cable C is fixed to the outer or smaller end ofthe beam 16 so that when lateral tension is exerted upon the cable 0 the dog Dis moved out of engagement with thecollar 19.

As the beam 16 is loosely fitted on the completely houses such portion against the action of the elements. This part of the actuating mechanism consists of a gear 20 fixed to the shaft 15 and meshing with a rack 21 carried by or formed on the upper end of a movable core 22 of a solenoid M. The rack 21 is counter-balanced bya weight 23 connected to a cable 24 trained over pulleys 25 and'connected to the upper end of the rack 21.

M designates a releasing solenoid, the movable core 26 of which is pivotally connected to a link2'7 which latter in turn is connected to an arm 27 formed on a yoke Y which is mounted for swinging movement about afpin 28 as a center. The lower arm of the yoke Y is disposed in the path of movement of a pin 29 formed on the rack 21, while the upper arm of the yoke is provided at its free end with a tapered tooth 30 which is adapted to engage areversely tapered lug 31 secured to the rack 21. The yoke Y as a. unit is normally biased to the locking position shown in Figure 2 by means of a coiled expansible spring 32 mounted on a rod 33 pivotally connected to the yoke Y and slidable through a bracket 34. The spring 32 bears against a head 33 formed on one end of the rod 33 so as to normally bias the rod into engagement with the yoke Y thereby causing the tooth tooooupy an engagingposition with respect to the lug From the foregoing arrangement, it will be seen that when the solenoid M is ener gized a downward movement is imparted to ing on the yoke Y moves the tooth back into the path of the lug so as to overlie the latter in theniannershown in-Figure 2 whereby, upward movement of the rack 21 is prevented. The locking of therack 21 inthis position; prevents the counter-weight 17 from v I returning the gate to. its normal vertical 25 position and thereby maintainsthe gate in closed position.

Toeffect a return of the gate to open position, the solenoid M, is de-energized and the. solenold M is ienergized thereby causmgthe downward movement of the core26 to effect arocking, movement of the yoke. Y so as to By the rocking of theyoke Y and the downward'movement of the core 26, thelower arm of the yoke exerts a lifting action on the rack2l through the pin 29 thereby impartingan initial impulse to the gate so that the Weights 27 can respondand effect a lifting of the gate.

Should a, vehicle .or other obstruction be disposed within the path of the gate as it is moving to closed position, it will be clear that such vehicle or obstruction engages and thusexerts lateralv pressure. upon the cable Cso as to throw the dog D out of engagement with the collar 19 and to thereby disconnect the gate from the shaft 15 so that the movement of the rack bar 21 is ineffective.

to continue the movement of the gate to closed position. As soon as the gate becomes disconnected from the shaft 15, the- .Although we have herein shown and described only, one form of gate embodying our invention, it is to be understood that various changes and .lnOCllfiCiltlODS, may be made the invention and the'spirit and scope of the appended claims,

. \Vhatwe claim is:

l. A railway gate actuating apparatus comprising, a shaft, a gear fixed to the shaft, a rack bar meshing with the gear, electro-mag netically operated means for moving said rack bar in a direction to effect a lowering of the gate, a lug formed on the bar, a yoke fulcrumed adjacentbthe bar, a tooth formed on the yoke, means for biasing the yoke so as to cause the tooth to be disposed within the path of said lug, and electro-magnetically operated neansfor moving the yoke toicause said tooth to be removed from the path of said lug.

2, A. railwaygate actuating apparatus comprising, means for moving the gate to closed position, a. solenoid. for actuating said means, means for latching the first means, so, as tomaintain the gate in closed position, and a second solenoid for moving the latching means to releasing position, said latching means being associated with the firstmeans in a manner to-impart an initial impulse thereto when the second solenoid is eners e 3. A comprising, a shaft,a gear fixed to theshaft, a rack bar meshing withthe gear, a solenoid having the ,core thereof operatively, connected to the bar,a lug formed on the bar, a yoke fulcruined adjacent the bar, a tooth formed on the yoke, a spring pressed rod engageable with the yoke for normally maintaining the tooth in the path. of said lug, and a solenoidoperatively connected to the yoke for moving the same to cause said tooth tobe removed from the path of the lug.

4. A railway gate actuating apparatus comprising, a shaft, a gear loosely mounted on the shaft, a rack bar meshing with the gear, electro-magnetically operated means for moving the rack bar in a direction to effeet a lowering ofthe gate, a lug formed on thebar, ayoke fulcrumed adjacent the bar, a tooth formed onthe yoke, means for biasing the yoke so as to cause the tooth to be disposed within thepath of the lug, electro magnetically operated means for moving the yoke to cause the tooth to be removed from the pathof the lug, a gate carriedpawl biased to normally engage said ear, and a cable slidably supported iatthe ower edge railway gate actuating apparatus 

